Teaufortria
Teaufortria is a large country occupying most of the Norse peninsula of the Continent of Benth. The peninsula juts out into the Northern Sea of Benth and creates the Bay of Teauf along most of its southwest coast. To the West, Teaufortria borders Waxwaerlia to the Southwest along a border defined by the North Andrean Mountains, and Andreas to the direct West. Demography Teaufortria is primarily comprised of people of the Teauf ethnicity, being the original settlers of and natives to the peninsula, though there are large populations of people of Southern Skyriftan descent, a result of the Great Migrations after the Great War of the 4th Era. There are also Norse-speaking Breton enclaves in the Southwest of the country, a result of the redrawn borders after the disillusion of the House of Mist, and in the modern era, people from around the world have immigrated to Teaufortria due to its temperate climate and open-door policy on immigration. Early History The Teaufs have existed on the Norse peninsula since long before the First Era. They, like the Breton people, are descendants of the Prebreton race- a mysterious and large enclave of early man about which little is known, except for their reach, and that the race broke off into several smaller ethnicities, probably due to the isolation caused by the Second Great Ice Age from ~pe35,000 to ~pe5,000. The capital of and oldest city in Teaufortria (and where the country gets its name), Teaufort, is located on the southwest coast of the peninsula, near the tip. It was probably founded in the third century before the First Era, based on ancient foundations and artifacts discovered under the modern city, however there are no explicit records regarding the city's early history because of the Breton Inquisition from 2e150-3e01, in which much early Teauf culture and documentation was destroyed. Before the arrival of the Bretons, when Teaufort was one of many small kingdoms (called Royalates) on the peninsula, the Teaufortrians faced regular, near-constant conflict with the neighboring Gravailles, Avonne and Swanick Royalates. All of these groups spoke the Proto-Norse language, and were Teaufs, but belonged to different Houses. The House system ruled Teaufortria from whenever it was that the Teaufortrian Empire collapsed until the House of Mist's creation in the early 3rd Era. Bloodline linearity and purity was very important in Teauf culture, and it was rare for members of the Noble caste to marry outside of their own families, and more so to marry into another House, if at all. In the House system, Noble and Vassalate families (the latter of which were appointed by the Roi, the head of the Noble House, or otherwise inheirited their position) presided over their fiefdoms, called Houses. Land was the ultimate measure of success and power in this period, as the Breton ideas of democracy and a powerful merchant class were not present in middle Teauf culture. Because of the ever-present struggle for the majority of land, wars between houses were regular and devastating. In 2e73, the Teaufort Royalate cemented itself as the de facto dominant power on the Norse peninsula when it, under the leadership of Prince Ander the Clerk, wholly defeated the armies of the Swanick Royalate at the city of Swannes, and absorbed the Royalate in whole. Teaufort now controlled the majority of the Eastern region- a highly enviable position. Gravailles and Avonne attempted to form an alliance to match the Teaufs, but their attempts to coexist failed due to their peoples' distrust for each other. The Teaufortrian war to take control of both Gravailles and Avonne that commenced the 2e90s was going in favor of the Teaufortrians, however the war was interrupted when the technologically and numerically superior Bretons arrived, and the Breton inquisition commenced. The Breton Inquisition From 2e150, the Waxwaerlian Bretons launched a then-unprecedented miltary campaign, simultaneously invading the Hadia Ka'liqhate and the Norse Peninsula. One by one, the Waxwaerlian army conquered the Teauf Royalates, until only Teaufort remained. The Avonne Royalate was notable for shifting territorially, from the North coast of Teaufortria to the island now known as Aebahn, in 2e156. The Waxwaerlians, citing religious superiority, destroyed as much Teauf culture as they could get their hands on. They razed many villages across the countryside, and notably burned libraries containing historically and culturally significant texts and works of art. The Teaufortrians held their own against the Waxwaerlians for months before the city of Teaufort was taken and the Teaufortrian nobility fled into the hills. The Teaufortrian army still continued to fight back against the Waxwaerlians even after the fall of Teaufort, and after years of employing guerrilla tactics, they finally retook the city of Teaufort in 2e170. Waxwaerlia then approached Teaufortria with an offer of peace, asking Teaufort to be their equal ally to support their war against the Sarrahnid Caliphate of Ka'liqhistan in the Hadia Ka'liqhate. They agreed in exchange for control over the lands of Gravailles, Swannes, Avonne, and Rodoq. This agreement was approved by the Waxwaerlian Senate and the House of Mist, in its earliest form, was created. The House of Mist and Postquerieux Period The Post-Inquisition period, known as the Postquerieux ''period, was a time of great cultural change in Teaufortria. For the first time since the Prebreton Empire, the city-states of the Norse Peninsula were united, now under the banner of Teaufortria. former rivalries between the Royalates were phased out as the Teaufortrian adopted some of the ideas seen in the ''Carta Waxwaerlia into their own new Constitution, and Waxwaerlian and Teauf artistic and cultural facets were shared between the nations in a way never before seen. Teaufortria also largely adopted Pedianity over their Pagan religion, with the rise of King Philip the Scribe in the 2e200s. Waxwaerlia left Teaufortria alone for a time, but held them responsible to joining the Waxwaerlian army in Bretonizing the region of Hadia. Several seasons on, the Teaufortrian military was powerful enough to support the Waxwaerlians, and they also invaded the Ka'liqhate. By 2e194, the Ka'liqhate fell, and the Ka'liqh population there was largely diffused across Waxwaerlia or fled back to Ka'liqhistan. Waxwaerlia and Teaufortria essentially cut the territory in half. The Teaufortrian holdings became an extension of the province of Rodoq. The Waxwaerlians, however, created a new territory out of their section, calling it the Province of Andreas. The people of Andreas would later revolt against the Waxwaerlians, in the 2e450s, forming the Divine Empire of Andreas. After the war, Waxwaerlia took a break from the Inquisition and pursued peace. Teaufortria proposed increasing the involvement of the House of Mist in both countries' internal politics, turning it more into an umbrella government. Waxwaerlia agreed, and the Imperial Congress was assembled in 2e266, as both an assurance of peace between Waxwaerlia and Teaufortria and a deterrence against the Second Graecian Empire's recent colonial habits and acquisition of the Isle of Saladia. Early Teaufortrian Democracy From the creation of Teaufortria, Breton-styled democracy had been central in its new government. The noble families still retained power, but they were all united under the umbrella of the Teaufortrian Senate. It was a tough job getting the senators to agree on anything initially, but as time went on and their children took over, the opposition in the senate lessened. Many aspects of the feudal era of politics still remained, such as the aforementioned nepotism, but in the new light of the Federal government, they did not often intersect the new policies. Teaufortrian Colonialism in the Second Benthic Expansionist Period